David Shear, US ambassador to Vietnam (L), and Nguyen Quan, Vietnam’s Minister of Science and Technology clap their hands after signing a civilian nuclear pact in Hanoi on Tuesday. PHOTO COURTESY OF VIETNAMNET

The United States and Vietnam Tuesday signed a deal on civilian nuclear energy that will allow the US to transfer technology and sell its reactors to the Southeast Asian nation.

The so-called “123 agreement” was signed by US ambassador to Vietnam David Shear and Vietnam’s Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan in Hanoi, under the authorization of President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

“This agreement will create opportunities for Vietnam to access the US modern technology in the nuclear power field, as well as pave the way for US companies to invest in Vietnamese market,” said Nguyen Quan.

Meanwhile, David Shear said the pact would build a solid foundation for the cooperation between Vietnam and the US in the civil nuclear sector.

Vietnam is pursuing nuclear energy in order to deal with its present shortage of energy. The country hopes nuclear power to provide more than 10 percent of its total power generation needs by 2030.